How Texans engineered turnaround, playoff berth: ‘True believers .. turning point .. Warrior mentality .. Right culture’

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There was a bleak time, just a few months ago, when the Texans were basically being written off as a relevant football team.

Branded as a trendy Super Bowl contender during the offseason, a rocky start created doubt and dismissal outside of the Texans’ building.

That wasn’t how the Texans viewed the state of their team internally, though. They maintained a steadfast belief that they were still a good football team, even during an 0-3 start, a 3-5 midway point to the season and, especially, during a pivotal three-game stretch when quarterback C.J. Stroud was sidelined with a concussion.

Flash forward to Saturday at SoFi Stadium, the site of the Texans’ season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and it was an altogether different reality.

They defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, the fourth 11-win team the 11-5 Texans have beaten, 20-16, behind a hot start from Stroud with a pair of deep touchdown passes to rookie wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel and a top-ranked defense that relentlessly suffocated Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert.

The Texans are the hottest team in the NFL and headed back to the playoffs for the third year in a row under coach DeMeco Ryans’ leadership, earning at least a wild-card spot as the current sixth seed.

They have engineered a dramatic turnaround as the seventh team in the past quarter-century to qualify for the playoffs following an 0-3 start to the season. They’re the first team to do so since 2018 when the Texans made the playoffs under former coach Bill O’Brien.

“Just really proud of every person on this team and organization,” Ryans said. “It’s what you play for. It’s what you work hard for throughout training camp. It’s what you fight in the season for, for an opportunity to be in the playoffs and go win it all. So we’ve earned that and it wasn’t given to us. Our guys went out and earned it. We’re extremely proud of everybody for that. I believe in this team because I know what these guys are about. 

“I know how they work throughout training camp when nobody’s watching. I know how close our team got throughout training camp, throughout the season. We have guys who are true believers, who are unwavering in their faith. Guys who come to work every single day. Put in that work no matter what’s being said on the outside, things that really don’t matter to us. That’s why I believed, because I saw the work ethic those guys put in.”

This marked the Texans’ sixth one-score win in a row after going 0-5 in that category to star the season. 

“God is the greatest,” nickel Jalen Pitre said. “The Texans defense is probably second.”

A tight-knit locker room, a tough team mentally and physically and a brotherly camaraderie has defined the Texans’ season. Several players played through injuries, including cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr., and Kamari Lassiter, offensive guard Ed Ingram and middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. Lassiter told Ryans he refused to leave the game despite a knee injury.

“Man, that’s just that warrior mentality, man, that spreads throughout the locker room,” Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “Man, whatever it takes to find a way. That’s what we’re built on. We’re built on toughness. We’re built on mentality. Everybody has that same mentality like I don’t care if I’m hurting. I don’t care. I can’t let my brother down.”

The Texans remain one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South division. A loss by the Jaguars to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday or next week to the Tennessee Titans combined with a Texans win over the Colts next week would earn the Texans a third consecutive AFC South division title.

Perseverance and determination have been the watchwords for the Texans, who are the antithesis of a flashy team. They’re a hard-hat bunch filled with blue-collar workers. There’s talent on both sides of the football, but there is no star system in Houston. 

They’ve discovered a winning formula built on an elite defense and an offense that scores just enough points.

“The games that we lost, it’s one-score games, critical situations, critical moments, and it’s just about making the play,” said Al-Shaair, who had a pivotal interception of a dropped Herbert pass at the Texans’ 1-yard line.  “At the end of the day, the National Football League is the best of the best. There’s no level higher than this.  And every single way you gotta show up and your brother is counting on you. And we count on each other every single play and we just don’t wanna let the guy down.

“I think what really makes it click is just the love that we have for (each other, that you’re so determined that you wanna make the play. Kamari getting hurt, me getting hurt, just guys staying battling through. It’s because you want to play for the man next to you, so you’re  willing to do whatever it takes. If you have the right culture, the right guys, which we have both, great leadership from the top, everybody has just bought in.”

The change to their season?

Ryans tracks it back to the comeback victory over the Jaguars at NRG Stadium from being down 19 points in the fourth quarter as backup quarterback Davis Mills stepped in for Stroud, when he was out, scrambling for the game-winning touchdown. Mills went undefeated in three games as a starter. Now, Stroud has won his past five starts to boost the Texans into the postseason.

“From my viewpoint, the turning point for our entire season, I go back to our Jacksonville game,” Ryans said. “For us to be down as far as we were in that game and to have our backup quarterback Davis Mills to have such a clutch performance to get us into a position to win that game. I feel like that’s the game that flipped our season and just showed us that no matter what we’re up against, no matter who’s on the field, if we stay together, stay connected, we can overcome anything.”'

The Texans’ winning streak that began Nov. 9 with Mills beating the Jaguars has included ensuing victories over the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills with Mills under center, then Stroud returning to the lineup along with Pitre back from his own concussion for a win over the Colts on the road, finally beating the Kansas City Chiefs, taking care of business against the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders and, now, beating the Chargers, the team they blew out in the AFC wild-card round last season as they intercepted Herbert four times. He was sacked five times Sunday.

This marks a quality win. The Chargers have the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense, led by Pro Bowl safety Derwin James, who intercepted Stroud. 

The Chargers own wins over the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

“We knew this was the game to punch our ticket to get into the playoffs,”  Ryans said. “A lot of guys were dealing with pain, injuries, guys went down on the field. I go talk to Kamari, he’s coming up to me: ‘Coach, there’s no way I’m coming out of this game.’ That’s the mindset of all of our guys. It’s all on the line.”

The Texans got off to a blistering hot start as Stroud completed all six of his throws in the first quarter for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He finished 16 of 28 for 244 yards with two interceptions.

“I feel like C.J. did an outstanding job,” Ryans said. “Even though he had some picks early, he continued to battle. We continue to throw the ball and continue to make some good decisions with the ball. I like how we faced adversity and overcame it. So, I’m proud of the offense, for the way they battle all day.”

The Chargers were limited to a field goal in the first half and did not reach the end zone until the end of the third quarter.

“They’re very good,” said Herbert, who was hit  eight times and pressured on 38.1 percent of his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. “We’ve got nothing but respect for them, the way they compete, fly around and play for each other.”

Stroud managed the game well. And rookie running back Woody Marks pounded out first downs to close out the Chargers.

“They played a solid shell defense,” Stroud said. “So, we kind of knew that and came up with some good plays and designed some good plays just to pick on that. We got to keep that going. It can’t just be in the first quarter; it’s got to be throughout the whole game. So, there’s something we can learn from is just keeping the gas on.”

The Texans’ defense had an indomitable will. They beat one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL in Herbert, after previously beating Bills quarterback Josh Allen behind an eight-sack performnce.

“Man, our brand of ball is really just one word and that’s ’swarm,” Anderson said. Whatever may happen, good or bad, everybody is just swarming. I think we talked about how we’ve been brainwashed to swarm. It’s in everybody’s head. You step on that field, you’re swarming.”

The major characteristic to this playoff squad, in Stroud’s view, is focus and remaining confident in each other. The team never gave into finger-pointing. They remained tight and supportive of each other.

“I think I’m most proud of how we stuck together as brothers, and sisters as well,” Stroud said. ”Everybody in our facility, we stuck together. When I was in college, we used to have this term called ‘I vs. The World’.  People turn their back on you or they start talking crazy and just doing whatever, but, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what’s happening on the outside. 

“I thought when people were trying to divide us and try to pick on one person or one thing or whoever, we had opportunities to stick together. So, I thought that that was what his year has been for me and that’s what I’m most proud of is just in that time, we stuck together and stayed one because we could’ve easily spun it off and the season would have went differently.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com